Diary of a food-loving Central New Yorker

05/17/2018

Let's make a deal: Embracing time in and near Ithaca

We all make deals with ourselves: Spend a couple hours cleaning and you can kick back with a movie. Work an extra hour today and you can clock out an hour early tomorrow.

On Thursday, I traveled to Ithaca to work on an upcoming food story for The Syracuse New Times. And rather than rush back, I made a deal with myself to enjoy some time in and around Ithaca, to make a couple local food stops and get back to my blog.

It has been a while! Focused on work, I've felt unmotivated and uninspired to put time into my blog, which I started as a creative outlet -- something I derive pleasure from and isn't supposed to feel like work. Hopefully now, I've ended my self-imposed drought.

Honestly, I always make time for a stop at Red Feet when I'm in Ithaca. The store has a carefully curated selection of Finger Lakes wines and the staff is incredibly nice and helpful. While I looked over dry Roses from the region, the associate told me about some new arrivals and steered me to the dry Rose from Sheldrake Point Winery, which has been making dry Rose longer than any winery in the Finger Lakes. I haven't tried it yet but will soon -- dry Rose is perfect for spring and summer fare. And when she learned we like Chardonnay "sans oak,'' she suggested the un-oaked Chardy from Red Tail Ridge Winery, on the west side of Seneca Lake.

Red Feet Wine Market is at 435 Franklin St., Ithaca, near the popular Ithaca Farmers Market. If you visit the market, as so many do during the summer months, make your way to Red Feet. If you like Finger Lakes wine, you won't be disappointed.

The Piggery is a farmer-owned butcher shop featuring everything pork and house-made charcuterie from its Trumansburg farm and local farm partners. The butcher case holds pork and beef cuts, bacon, specialty sausages and more and the shop also features a fine array of local products, like Farmer Ground Flour and and Flour City Pasta. The Piggery is pork heaven, but I left with a package of turkey pepperoni to try on pizza at home, as well as a pound of maple breakfast sausage links.

The Piggery is at 423 Franklin St., Ithaca, in the same plaza as Red Feet Wine Market. Hit it up for some pig and get some wine to go with it. Or vice versa.

The Corner Store dubs itself a hub for the community of King Ferry. The store, in a former Red and White Food Store, is that and more, with everything from basic provisions to baked goods made on the premises to daily soups and lunch specials to grab-and-go sandwiches and salads.

I came because I heard the store carries cheeses from the Tumino Cheese Company, launched in 2015 by three women, all who grew up on dairy farms and later on, in their travels, fell in love with the cheeses of Northern Italy. I came home with a piece of Old Grey Mare, an aged cow's milk cheese that's described as buttery and tangy. I plan to enjoy it with wine and shred it for use on pizza.